Editing Gadwall (section)

== Behaviour ==
[[File:Gadwall (Anas strepera) female and male dabbling.jpg|thumb|Female and male dabbling, [[WWT London Wetland Centre]], [[Barnes, London|Barnes]]]]
The gadwall is a bird of open wetlands, such as [[prairie]] or [[steppe]] lakes, wet grassland or marshes with dense fringing vegetation, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food with head submerged. They can also dive underwater for food, more proficiently than other dabbling ducks, and may also steal food from diving birds such as coots.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Todd |first=Frank S. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36056940 |title=Natural history of the waterfowl |date=1996 |publisher=San Diego Natural History Museum |isbn=0-934797-11-0 |location=San Diego, Calif. |oclc=36056940}}</ref>  It nests on the ground, often some distance from water. It is not as gregarious as some dabbling ducks outside the breeding season and tends to form only small flocks.

Gadwalls are monogamous and may start breeding after their first year. Pair formation begins during fall migration or on breeding grounds, but has also been reported to occur in August when males are still in eclipse plumage. Gadwalls are generally quiet, except during courtship. The male utters a ''mep'' call during a display known as the ''burp'', where he raises his head pointing his bill towards a female.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dwyer |first=Thomas J. |date=1974 |title=Social Behavior of Breeding Gadwalls in North Dakota |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4084516 |journal=The Auk |volume=91 |issue=2 |pages=375–386 |jstor=4084516 |issn=0004-8038}}</ref> The ''grunt-whistle'' is similar to that of mallards, where the male rears his outstretched head with the bill dipped into water, displacing a stream of water droplets towards a nearby female as the bill is raised against the chest. During this display the male makes a loud whistle call followed by a low ''burp''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baldassarre |first=Guy A. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/810772720 |title=Ducks, geese, and swans of North America |date=2014 |isbn=978-1-4214-0751-7 |edition=2 |location=Baltimore |oclc=810772720}}</ref> Paired males may follow other females in flight displays.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Crabtree |first1=Robert L. |last2=Broome |first2=Linda S. |last3=Wolfe |first3=Michael L. |date=1989 |title=Effects of Habitat Characteristics on Gadwall Nest Predation and Nest-Site Selection |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3801319 |journal=The Journal of Wildlife Management |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=129–137 |doi=10.2307/3801319 |jstor=3801319 |issn=0022-541X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

During nesting season, the female lays a clutch of 7–12 eggs with each of them measuring {{cvt|4.9-6|cm}} in length and {{cvt|3.4-4.4|cm}} in width. Incubation lasts for 24–27 days and the nestlings leave after around 1–2 days. A gadwall can only raise one brood a season<ref name=":0" />